


A Little Indulgence

by LostCauses (Anteros)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Birthday, Canon Compliant, M/M, UST, pretty sappy really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-03 22:13:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12757194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anteros/pseuds/LostCauses
Summary: Levi has never known the date of his birthday, so why, in the depths of the Midwinter holiday, is the Commander handing him a gift?





	A Little Indulgence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zeds_Dead](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeds_Dead/gifts).



> A short birthday fic for zedsdead, based on this [gorgeous headcanon](http://shadowgale96.tumblr.com/post/167180082399/i-wonder-if-levis-birthday-is-actually-christmas) by shadowgale96.

Survey Corps headquarters are preternaturally quiet, the majority of soldiers and squad leaders having gone home for the Midwinter holiday that has miraculously survived the coming of the titans, the fall of the wall, and the genocidal expedition to retake wall Maria. Despite this, despite everything, the age-old festival endures. Those that still have families gather together to give thanks for seeing the turning of another year. Those with children press small gifts of sweets and toys into eager sticky fingers. Those with no one commemorate their lost loved ones and raise a glass to their ghosts. 

Levi sits alone in the mess hall, nursing a cup of tea and watching the snow falling thick and fast outside the window. He has little recollection of Midwinter from his early childhood beyond a vague sense of warmth and the rare taste of sugar. His earliest real memory is of Kenny taking him above ground to gather rich pickings from inebriated townsfolk who had over indulged in the holiday spirit. He remembers a man standing swaying in an alleyway pissing a yellow arc into the snow. Kenny knocked him down easily as Levi snatched the bag from his shoulder. He remembers Kenny’s glee as he pulled out an expensive looking box from the bag, his anger when he opened it to reveal a painted wooden horse. Kenny had thrown the toy to the ground, kicked the fallen man once, twice for good measure and sloped off to find a more profitable victim, Levi following obediently in his wake. It was only later, much, much later that night, that Levi had crept through the shadows and made his way back to the alley where he was disappointed to find both the man and the horse gone, just a dirty ribbon lying trampled in the yellow snow. 

A soft noise rouses the Captain from his thoughts. Levi startles and looks up to find the Commander gazing at him, expression unreadable. He’s out of uniform; standing in the doorway of the mess hall in his shirt sleeves, hair falling forward over his forehead. 

“What the fuck…” Levi starts in a poor attempt to disguise the fact that he’s been caught off guard. 

“I’m sorry Captain, I didn’t mean to startle you.” 

The Commander steps forward into the flickering lamplight of the mess hall and Levi can see that he’s smiling; a small, self-satisfied smile that immediately puts him on edge. 

“You didn’t,” Levi snaps. “It’s fucking creepy the way you sneak around like that. What do you want?” 

“I was looking for you.” Erwin replies mildly.

“No shit.” 

“Would you come to my office please?” 

The Commander inclines his head towards the broad staircase beyond the mess hall. 

“Is that an order or a request?” 

Erwin laughs softly and shakes his head. 

“I can make it an order if you like, but I’d prefer if I didn’t have to.” 

Levi sighs pointedly, pushes the bench back with a loud scrape and follows Erwin up the stairs, two pairs of boots ringing on the stone steps. 

The Commander’s office looks much as it always does; shelves lined with dusty books, desk littered with charts and plans. The only concession to the holiday is a wreath of holly above the fireplace and a small gift-wrapped box sitting on the low table in the centre of the room. 

Erwin picks up the box and holds it out towards Levi with a smile. 

“This is for you.” 

Levi eyes both the box and the Commander suspiciously, trying to ignore the way his heart is beating a rapid tattoo in his chest, making it hard to breath. 

“What’s that?” he asks. 

Erwin looks at the box in his hands, and frowns, slightly puzzled.

“It’s a gift.” 

“I can see that. What’s it for?” 

“It’s for you.” 

Erwin holds the box out again and Levi has to fight the urge to step back. 

“Why? You know I don’t do Midwinter. I hate all that shit.” 

“It’s not a Midwinter gift.” 

He’s still fucking smiling and there’s something about the openness of his expression that’s making Levi feel off balance. Hell would freeze over before he’d admit it, but he’s often wondered what Erwin would look like beneath the Commander’s implacable façade. And now he knows; he looks vulnerable, hopeful, painfully human, boyish even. Now Levi has seen it, he can’t unsee it and he feels as though the ground has shifted beneath his feet. 

“What the fuck is it then?” he asks.

“It’s a birthday gift.” 

“What the fuck?” Levi really does step backwards now. “It’s not my birthday!”

“When is your birthday Levi?” Erwin asks, suddenly serious. The smile has vanished, but it does nothing to diminish the intensity of his gaze. 

“I don’t know.” Levi huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. He can’t help being embarrassed by the admission and he knows it’s a defensive gesture, which only annoys him further. It’s uncanny that Erwin has the knack to disarm him so. Levi will face a whole hoard of Titans without blinking but somehow Erwin only has to look him in the eye to have him on the back foot. 

“I know,” he replies softly, toying with the box, turning it around carefully in his hands. “However according to Survey Corps records, your birthday is today.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Levi’s eyes blow wide in astonishment. 

“Look, I’ll show you.” 

Erwin places the box back on the table, rounds his desk and pulls a muster book from a drawer. He leafs through it until he finds the page he’s looking for and then hands the ledger to Levi. 

“See for yourself, it’s right there in black and white.” 

Levi scans down the list of names and there, in neat cursive script, beneath F. Church and I. Magnolia, he sees his own name, Levi. His rank has been amended several times, but his date of birth reads 25th December. He stares at the date uncomprehending, before looking up at the Commander, brows narrowing in confusion. 

“That’s not my birthday, that’s bullshit. Who wrote that?” 

“I did,” Erwin replies simply, “keeping the Survey Corps muster up to date was one of the tasks Shadis devolved to me.”

“But where did the date come from?” 

“When you were mustered into the Corps you said you didn’t know your date of birth so I chose a date for you.” 

“But why today?” 

Erwin just shrugs and smiles. 

_Because you’re a gift_ he doesn’t say.

Levi snaps the muster shut and tosses it onto the table. 

“Idiot,” he snorts, but he can feel his ears starting to burn and he feels oddly light headed.

“Maybe, but anyway, it’s on the record now, so Happy Birthday Levi.” 

Erwin picks up the box again and hands it to Levi. This time he takes it. 

“Open it,” Erwin prompts. 

Levi pulls the ribbon and lifts the lid off the box. Inside, nestled in a bed of crisp tissue paper, is a plain white teacup and saucer. Levi lifts the cup carefully from the box and holds it up to the light. The china is so fine he can see the maker’s mark through the bottom of the cup. 

“Do you like it?” 

Levi nods. His throat is suddenly too tight to speak and there’s a strange prickling sensation behind his eyes. 

“I’m glad,” Erwin continues and, really, he does sound glad. “I know you like tea so I thought….” He tails off and when Levi looks up he’s surprised to see a faint flush colouring his cheeks. 

“Anyway,” he continues, clearing his throat as the Commander’s mask slides back into place. “It’s getting late, I won’t keep you, enjoy the rest of your birthday Captain.”

Levi is still in a daze as he places the cup back into the box and turns to leave. He’s half way out the door when he realises that he hasn’t thanked the Commander for his gift. When he turns his head, he finds the man standing motionless in the centre of the office, the mask has slipped again and the expression on his face is the closest thing that Levi has seen to defeat. 

“Thank you,” he pauses, “Erwin.” 

And then he hurries away before he can see the smile like summer that lights the Commander’s eyes. 

Later that night, after the snow has stopped falling and the world is blanketed in silence, Levi sits alone in his quarters drinking contraband tea from a fine bone china cup. And if, as he runs one fingertip around the warm, smooth rim of the cup, he wonders how it would feel to run that same finger over the lips of the man who gave him these incomparable gifts, then who is to know? It’s his birthday after all; he deserves a little indulgence.


End file.
